Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Dec 2014
Multicenter StudyA Multisite Study of the Relationships between Blast Exposures and Symptom Reporting in a Post-Deployment Active Duty Military Population with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.
Explosive devices have been the most frequent cause of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among deployed contemporary U. S. service members. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of previous cumulative blast exposures (that did or did not result in TBI) on later post-concussion and post-traumatic symptom reporting after sustaining a mild TBI (MTBI). ⋯ Regression analyses revealed that cumulative blast exposures accounted for a small but significant amount of the variance in total NSI scores (4.8%; p=0.009) and total PCL-C scores (2.3%; p<0.001). Among service members exposed to blast, post-concussion symptom reporting increased as a function of cumulative blast exposures. Future research will need to determine the relationship between cumulative blast exposures, symptom reporting, and neuropathological changes.